Person

Faye Settler

1916-2004

Faye Settler was born on December 13, 1916 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Growing up, she lived in Southey, Saskatchewan, Plum Coulee and Teulon, Manitoba, but moved back to Winnipeg with her family in 1928. Settler completed her formal education at St. John’s Technical High School. She married Bert Settler in 1938. In 1948, Faye Settler and her mother Maggie Brownstone opened a small antique store named the Curiosity Shop in their neighbourhood. By the mid-1950s they moved the Curiosity Shop to 313 Smith Street in downtown Winnipeg. The Upstairs Gallery opened in 1966 as an extension of the Curiosity Shop and exhibited the work of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries. Shortly after its opening, the Upstairs Gallery introduced a regular schedule of exhibitions by both local and national contemporary artists. In 1967, the Curiosity Shop became a Charter Member of the Canadian Antique Dealers Association, and in 1971, Upstairs Gallery was invited to join the Professional Art Dealers Association of Canada (now the Art Dealers Association of Canada.) As a result of the success and growth of both the Upstairs Gallery and the Curiosity Shop, Settler relocated to a larger space at 266 Edmonton Street. Stemming from Faye Settler’s interest in Inuit art, the Upstairs Gallery became well-known for its Inuit sculpture and tapestry exhibitions and Settler’s unique and personal relationship with Baker Lake artists. In 2001, Faye Settler made a gift to the Winnipeg Art Gallery of the Faye and Bert Settler Inuit Collection. In 2003, Settler received the Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Art Dealers Association of Canada Award for Lifetime Achievement. Faye Settler passed away on January 21, 2004. The Upstairs Gallery closed on March 1, 2005.

Draft

Partial

Created by Michelle Rydz (2006). Revised by N.Courrier (December 2018).